ASK TONY: My TV broke after just seven months but Currys just passed the buck and Sony didn't want to know

I bought a Sony TV from Currys for £689 and my son fitted it to the wall. Seven months later, a white line about 8in wide appeared on the screen. I went back to Currys and was told I had to deal directly with Sony.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with someone who told me to set up the TV again and send a photo. They said an engineer would come by the next day to arrange a replacement, so I waited in — but no one turned up.

I then received an email saying Sony had been trying to make contact, but I'd heard nothing. I called again and was then refused a refund.

At Sony's request, I paid £66 for an engineer to visit. They said this type of TV was vulnerable at the side. I am very upset by Sony's attitude and refusal to listen.

B. G., by email.

Snubbed: One reader's Sony television developed a fault after just seven months but neither the retailer or the manufacturer were keen to help

Your case highlights an issue often faced by consumers who buy faulty goods: retailers referring purchasers to the manufacturer — but your contract is with the shop that sold the goods.

The Consumer Rights Act states you can reject faulty goods and claim a full refund within 30 days of a purchase (relevant to goods bought after October 1, 2015).

After 30 days, you must give the manufacturer one opportunity to repair or replace the item. If this is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund or discount.

Share this article

HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP

Your right to make a claim in the small claims court if the retailer refuses to repair or replace a product lasts for six years. However, after the first six months, the onus is on you to prove a fault was present at the time of purchase.

This does not mean a product must last six years; a lot rests on what is considered a 'reasonable' amount of time. But I think everyone would agree that a TV should function for longer than seven months.

You tell me Sony said you should not have used a bracket to fix it to a wall. Sorry, but if that's the case, it doesn't sound fit for purpose.

The good news is when I took your problem to Currys, it leapt into action. As this issue had occurred in July and we were by then into November, you'd already bought a new TV, so it gave you a refund for this of £698 and £66 to cover the engineer's visit.

Sony was rather more defensive. Of the supposed weakness, it said: 'It is not a problem we have found with our televisions and is not our official position...An approved service centre would not have offered this advice.'

It says it cannot reassess the damage because the TV has now been recycled. It adds: 'We value our customers and their feedback and are reviewing this case.'

YOU HAVE YOUR SAY

Every week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our article about how a reporter’s battle at a traffic tribunal could help you overturn an unfair penalty:

What an excellent result. I was fined for using a bus lane at 3am, long after the buses had stopped running. Councils are milking motorists for huge sums without any fairness.

K. B., South Shields, Tyne & Wear.

How much money did the council spend collecting and defending this fine? After you add in the high salaries, it’s no wonder there is very little left for public services.

M. N., Portadown, N. Ireland.

It’s good to see this reporter’s claim was successful, but I think she got lucky. I think the council had a strong case, but didn’t defend it properly.

M. D., London.

The problem is that the burden of proof is on the driver — you are guilty until you are proven otherwise. Bullying councils need to look at the way they enforce traffic offences such as this. It’s clearly unfair.

D. N., Southampton.

It’s simple: you must not drive in bus lanes — the signs looked pretty clear to me. Nobody likes getting a fine, but sometimes, you’ve just got to accept it and pay when you do wrong.

N. C., London.

I had the same issue when riding my motorcycle in a bus lane near King’s Cross in London. I couldn’t see the signage, so thought I was allowed to ride there.

I appealed the fine, but it was rejected. I could have gone to a tribunal, but thought it wasn’t worth it and paid the £60 fine.

F. D., Chatham, Kent.

I find it astounding that councils can set fines at levels which, for some people, amount to a week’s wages. Other countries levy fines based on a percentage of your earnings — that’s how it should be.

T. S., Essex.

We left Virgin Media because we had received appalling customer service. Our last bill was on June 12 for £134.28. This covered payment up to July 12, but Virgin cut off our broadband on July 3, which meant we had no internet for ten days.

Now we have received a bill for £147.63 dated August 17.

T. D., Kent.

Media companies that can't communicate properly with customers are a regular irritation in this column. On August 30, you wrote to Virgin Media disputing your bill and you explained that it should contact you on your landline, not your mobile phone.

Five weeks later, it wrote back acknowledging your letters and saying that it had been trying to call you on your mobile phone.

Such unmitigated daftness is hard to explain — unless it hadn't bothered to read your letters. Virgin argued that a bill was outstanding because there was a 30-day notice period from June 21. It said the final balance was made up of charges from June 22 to July 21.

No mention was made of the fact it cut off your service earlier. The good news is that it has now cleared the balance and apologises for any distress.

It admits it did not follow the disconnection process correctly when you called to cancel in May — and says the 30-day notice period should have started then.

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

I have old American Express travellers’ cheques which I want to convert back into money. Where can I do this?

S. S., Burscough, Lancs.

American Express has a tool on its website that lists the places you can exchange travellers’ cheques. Visit aetclocator.com and type in your postcode or call 0800 587 6023, or try your local Post Office.

***

I was locked out of my iPhone due to a fault and couldn’t remember my Apple ID.

Apple said I had to wait for three days for an account recovery to take place. But, when I logged in online three days later, the wait had changed to 11 days. Why?

J. H., Birmingham.

Apple says for your security, recovery might take several days, depending on the verification information you can provide.

The three-day warning was the length of time it took to initiate the recovery process.

Then the system was able to determine the actual length of the account recovery. In your case, this was 11 days.

If you do not use the internet, call the AA, which charges £14.99, on 0800 316 3564.

To find out where bank branches are based, try sort codes.co.uk. Never pay for a vehicle with a bank transfer until you have inspected it.

***

I tried to cash in £1,950 of my Premium Bonds last week, but I couldn’t remember my password.

Instead, the person at National Savings & Investments (NS&I) asked me a security question about a store card I took out ten years ago — how am I meant to remember that? Now I can’t get access to my money. Please help.

M. M., Woking, Surrey.

NS&I says it has contacted you and asked you further security questions, which you answered correctly.

It is now processing your request and says your money should be with you soon.

In January last year, I sold a bangle for £1,299 online. I shipped it to America using Parcelforce Global Priority at a total cost of £99.15, including £55.80 enhanced insurance.

The item never arrived, so I put in a claim. When I dispatched it, I was not informed the package would not be covered for the full insurance.

I have been sent cheques to the value of £100.15 in compensation, but nothing regarding the value of the item, and I have had to refund the buyer.

L. P., Hampshire.

Enhanced cover provides for loss or damage of items worth up to £2,500 per consignment — but this excludes certain items, such as jewellery.

Royal Mail, which owns Parcelforce, says this is made very clear in its terms and conditions before the cover is bought. On this occasion, it is offering a one-off payment of £300 as a goodwill gesture. I think this is the best offer you are going to get under the circumstances and suggest that you accept it.

THE WINTER COLLECTIVE : COULD YOU SAVE MONEY ON YOUR BILLS?

This is Money has joined forces once more with energyhelpline to launch a new collective switch to help readers save money on energy bills.

The Winter Collective allows our readers to team up with thousands of other people and use their collective power to negotiate a unique offer on their energy bills.

Switchers taking advantage in the past have typically shaved £265 from their annual dual fuel bills.

This special deal turns the table on energy firms - rather than households having to hunt out a better price, they will be competing to offer you one.

You can register with just a few details here and once we have picked the winning deal we will deliver a unique tariff straight to your inbox on February 14.

If you decide to switch and save money you can. If you decide it is not for you then you do not have to take it.

Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?

Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual

We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.

You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.